Public health capacity, development

Supporting states in their efforts to assess their existing national public health structures and resources, as well as to develop and strengthen the core public health capacities for surveillance and response, and at designated points of entry... 

Contamination of the world s crops by aflatoxin is estimated to cost 10 billion annually, due not only to the direct loss of crops and animals, but also to the maintenance of toxin monitoring services and the indirect cost of human and animal health care (Trail et ah, 1995). Strict legislation will protect the public health in developed countries however, many countries do not have such legislation or testing capacity. Even if such legislation and testing could be implemented, they would reduce the health risk but could not eliminate large-scale economic losses similar to those currently faced by the U.S., the European Union, and other developed countries. 

Summary of the Key Points for Development of Public Health Capacity Within Disaster Management Systems Developed From Dr. David Nabarro s Presentation at the WHO Tsunami Health Conference, May 4-6, 2005... 

DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH CAPACITY WITHIN DISASTER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS POST INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI WHO 2005... 

To respond to requests for verification of information regarding events that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern To respond to public health risks that may spread internationally To develop, strengthen, and maintain the capacity to detect, report, and respond to public health events... 

New Hampshire Developing public-health laboratory capacity to biomonitor for arsenic, mercury, phthalates, poly-brominated diphenyl ethers and planning pilot studies to estimate body burden of environmental toxicants using newly developed biomonitoring analytic methods (CDC 2005). 

The WHO Technical Report Series makes available the findings of various international groups of experts that provide WHO with the latest scientific and technical advice on a broad range of medical and public health subjects. Members of such expert groups serve without remuneration in their personal capacities rather than as representatives of governments or other bodies their views do not necessarily reflect the decisions or the stated policy of WHO. An annual subscription to this series, comprising about 10 such reports, costs Sw. fr. 132.- (Sw. fr. 92.40 in developing countries). 

The events of 9/11 and subsequent anthrax attacks underscored the need for U.S. health care organizations and public health agencies to be prepared to respond to acts of bioterrorism and other public health emergencies. Many states and health care organizations and systems have developed preparedness plans that include enhancing surge capacity to respond to such events. 

The ABA s Central Office is working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness to establish and maintain a real-time burn bed availability program for the nation. In the recent past, the ABA worked with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research on a burn bed resource capacity project. The ABA Central Office will continue to work with HHS and others to develop and maintain a real-time burn bed resource capacity reporting system. 

The timely detection of outbreaks at the regional and national level is a priority function of communicable disease surveillance systems. In the process of implementing its IHR [4], WHO included the requirement for member states to maintain an adequate core capacity to detect and respond to significant public health threats. This requires that member states develop effective early-warning systems and strengthen their investigation and response capabilities [24, 25],... 

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